Grand Canyon Times

Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli has brought attention to fraudulent activities within Arizona's K-12 public school districts and Arizona State University, resulting in significant financial losses. During a recent Joint Legislative Audit Committee meeting, Arizona Auditor General Lindsey Perry shared findings from 2023 investigations. These investigations revealed over $1.8 million in losses and led to 34 criminal charges against five individuals associated with Arizona State University, Hyder Elementary School District, Gila Bend Unified School District, and the Department of Education. The charges included theft, misuse of public funds, fraudulent schemes, forgery, conspiracy, and computer tampering.

In a similar investigation conducted in 2022 by the Auditor General, more than $980,000 in losses were identified along with 25 criminal charges against five individuals from Toltec Elementary School District, Wilson Elementary School District, and Glendale Elementary School District.

As Chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, Majority Leader Borrelli is advocating for increased financial accountability and transparency within educational institutions to ensure taxpayer funds are dedicated to academic purposes rather than misused through fraud or theft. He emphasized that such misconduct deprives students and teachers of essential resources.

"Arizonans should have confidence knowing their tax dollars are being spent to educate students," said Majority Leader Borrelli. "But we're finding individuals within public school districts and public universities are illegally padding their personal bank accounts and purchasing gifts for themselves."

Borrelli urged Governor Hobbs and Democratic leaders to shift focus from scrutinizing families participating in the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program towards addressing ongoing criminal activities within schools that divert millions from taxpayers.

For further details or inquiries regarding this issue, Kim Quintero serves as the Director of Communications for the Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus at kquintero@azleg.gov.